John Crompton on Suitable Voices for the Countertenor Part (1778)
‘Suitable voices for the middle, or counter part are rather difficult to find; but let no-one, for that reason, attempt it with a feigned...
Reimagining Historical Voices
‘Suitable voices for the middle, or counter part are rather difficult to find; but let no-one, for that reason, attempt it with a feigned...
‘Firstly, a singer must have a voice by nature, in which three requirements and three flaws are to be noted. The requirements are these:...
‘Thus I say, that these voices are born from the matter of the tube [throat]; and by tube [throat] I mean all the parts mentioned above,...
‘The Cathedral bell is striking two, and in the passage boys scud to and fro shouting “Practice!" and racing to their places in the...
‘Without a doubt, [Johann] Michael Vogl stands foremost among those who recognised and promoted Schubert’s genius early on. As far as...
‘The old masters of the French school, who never employed the head voice, wrote a part in their operas which they called haute-contre...
‘I have said that the tenor of the Italians was the haute-contre of the French; at least the tenors hardly differ if...